EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service Supporting informed policy making A glance at the Directorate for Impact Assessment and European Added Value at the EP Stephan Huber, Head of Unit, Policy Cycle Unit European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) 10/12/2015

EPRS | ― 2003: Inter-institutional Agreement on Better Law-making introduces the idea of: › considering the effects of policy proposals in their economic, social and environmental dimensions; › simplifying and improving the regulatory environment in the EU. ― 2011: EP (Niebler) report on Guaranteeing independent impact assessments calls for the “creation of an autonomous impact assessment structure for the European Parliament”. ― EP Bureau decides to create a Directorate for Impact assessment and European Added Value to identify, quantify and justify the EP's general policy priorities. The Directorate was created in January ― November 2013: The Directorate becomes part of the newly created DG EPRS. 10/12/2015 Supporting informed policy making - A glance at the Directorate for Impact Assessment and European Added Value at the EP 2 ORIGINS OF THE DIRECTORATE

EPRS | ― Impact assessment supports the legislative process at all stages of decision-making, meaning › before (ex ante) and › after (ex post) the adoption and/or implementation of EU policy or legislation. ― Added value is a specific type of impact assessment. ― Foresight is strategic forward-looking, to identify long-term trends. This is reflected in the Directorate’s organisation chart, which is structured by stage in the policy cycle (rather than by policy areas). 10/12/2015 Supporting informed policy making - A glance at the Directorate for Impact Assessment and European Added Value at the EP 3 IMPACT ASSESSMENT

EPRS | ROLES AND SERVICES - ORGANIGRAMME 10/12/2015 Supporting informed policy making - A glance at the Directorate for Impact Assessment and European Added Value at the EP 4 Directorate for Impact Assessment and European Added Value Ex-Ante Impact Assessment Unit (IMPA) European Added Value Unit (EAVA) Scientific Foresight Unit (STOA) Global Trends Unit (TREN) Ex-post Impact Assessment Unit (IMPT) Policy Cycle Unit (POLC) European Council Oversight Unit (ECOS) Ex ante Ex post Foresight

EPRS | ― Support for parliamentary committees ― Conducts ex-ante and ex-post evaluation of - EU legislation and policies - spending programmes and international agreements in order to: › identify the benefit of common action at European level (evidence based policy making), › enhance EP’s capacity for scrutiny and oversight of the executive, strengthen its influence on policy formulation and development and contribute to the improvement of the quality of legislation. ― Work done: › at the request of the committee › automatically, on a regular basis. ― Covers the whole legislative cycle, from agenda setting, consultation, legislation to scrutiny. 10/12/2015 Supporting informed policy making - A glance at the Directorate for Impact Assessment and European Added Value at the EP 5 SPECIFIC MISSION OF THE DIRECTORATE

EPRS | Supporting informed policy making - A glance at the Directorate for Impact Assessment and European Added Value at the EP 10/12/20156 THE POLICY CYCLE - SIMPLIFIED Agenda- setting Cost of non- Europe Legislative Initiative Inter- institutional Programming Ex-ante Impact Assessment Legislative Process Ex-post Impact assessment ___________ Evaluation

EPRS | Ex-post evaluation as an essential part of the policy making EVALUATION Actual effects (intended & unintended) Economic, environmental, social, regulatory, specific territorial, on SMEs, Fundamental rights etc. Legislative act Criteria: - Effectiveness - Efficiency - Coherence - Relevance - EU added value Feedback on ex-ante performance indicators and policy objectives LESSONS LEARNED Monitoring Review Reporting Monitoring Review Reporting - Competent EU institutions and bodies - Member States - Competent EU institutions and bodies - Member States - Stakeholders Objectives (general, specific, operational) Performance indicators EU added value Expected and intended effects Ex-ante Impact Assessment - Competent EU institutions and bodies - Stakeholders - EU legislator Main actors per stage EU institutions EU legislator Member States Implementation transposition & enforcement - Member States - Competent EU institutions and bodies - Stakeholders Was it transposed? Gold plating? Was it implemented and how? What are the means of enforcement and how effective are they? 10/12/2015 Supporting informed policy making - A glance at the Directorate for Impact Assessment and European Added Value at the EP 7

EPRS | ― supports committees in justifying legislative initiative reports by European Added Value Assessments; EP has the right to ask the Commission to submit a proposal (Art. 225 TFEU); ― helps Parliament identify areas where common European action or better coordination of existing national and EU policies would be cost-effective or would help realize collective ‘public good’ via its Cost of Non-Europe reports; ― The synthetic document “Mapping the Cost of non-Europe” allows to visualize and compare the relative potential for gains in different areas. ― EAVA services have a strong quantification aspect. 10/12/2015 Supporting informed policy making - A glance at the Directorate for Impact Assessment and European Added Value at the EP 8 EUROPEAN ADDED VALUE UNIT (EAVA)

EPRS | ― Ex-ante impact assessment analyses the likely effects of important policy initiatives, including draft laws, and the reasoning behind them, before European institutions take a decision on them. ― IMPA helps committees scrutinize the quality, completeness and independence of Commission impact assessments through initial appraisals › Systematic analysis of all incoming IAs › Identification of their strengths and weaknesses. Committees may also request › Detailed appraisal of Commission IA › complementary IAs › IA on substantive amendments they propose (such IA is commissioned from external experts). 10/12/2015 Supporting informed policy making - A glance at the Directorate for Impact Assessment and European Added Value at the EP 9 EX-ANTE IMPACT ASSESSMENT UNIT (IMPA)

EPRS | ― Ex-post impact assessment (= evaluation) aims at retrospectively assessing the effectiveness of EU legislation or policy, by means of evidence-based evaluation on whether it has actually achieved the expected results. Ex-post findings ideally feed into amended proposals. ― The services monitor the Commission work with regard to transposition and implementation, impact, application and effectiveness of EU legislation. ― Two units: Ex-post Impact Assessment Unit (since November 2013) Policy Cycle Unit (Policy Performance Appraisal Unit until November 2015) 10/12/2015 Supporting informed policy making - A glance at the Directorate for Impact Assessment and European Added Value at the EP 10 EX-POST IMPACT ASSESSMENT

EPRS | ― Core product = ‘European Implementation Assessments’ › Automatic background analysis drawn up for committees, whenever they undertake an implementation report. › Implementation reports are no longer subject to quota. › Documents are prepared in-house or externalized, in close cooperation with the committee secretariat and the rapporteur.  Other analysis upon committee request 10/12/2015 Supporting informed policy making - A glance at the Directorate for Impact Assessment and European Added Value at the EP 11 EX-POST IMPACT ASSESSMENT UNIT (IMPT)

EPRS | ― The Policy Cycle Unit supports the EP’s scrutiny and policy making capacities through a range of products intended to provide Members and committees with timely, content rich and tailor made information. ― Monitor the growing interaction between ex-post work on evaluation and ex-ante work in the fields of impact assessment and potential added value. › Provides briefings on the state of implementation of existing legislation or EU programmes the Commission has put for revision or amendment in its Annual Work Programme; › Provides a rolling check-list on review clauses in EU legislation; › Provides a rolling check-list on the Special Reports of the European Court of Auditors; › Provides a rolling check-list on review and monitoring clauses in international agreements; › Provides a rolling check-list on the state of play of evaluation activities in the European Commission; › Drafts Briefings on horizontal issues linked with ex-post evaluation, performance appraisal and general issues on the policy cycle. 10/12/2015 Supporting informed policy making - A glance at the Directorate for Impact Assessment and European Added Value at the EP 12 POLICY CYCLE UNIT (POLC)

EPRS | ― Monitoring and analysing the European Council conclusions in respect to the delivery of the commitments made. › European Council is formally not accountable to the EP › European Council President reports to EP after each formal summit › MEPs can ask written questions relating to the political activities of the European Council President Services include › a rolling check-list of commitments to date (updated 4x/year) › Regular briefs on European Council meetings (outlook and outcome) › Briefings and studies 10/12/2015 Supporting informed policy making - A glance at the Directorate for Impact Assessment and European Added Value at the EP 13 EUROPEAN COUNCIL OVERSIGHT UNIT (ECOS)

EPRS | ― The Scientific Foresight Unit (STOA) provides strategic advice in the field of science and technology options assessment and scientific foresight. ― Analyses implications and options for future policy-making in the fields of science and technology. ― Undertakes research and workshops, upon request of the STOA Panel or pro-actively and organizes a high-level annual lecture. ― Has been existing for 20+ years. ― Overseen by a Panel of Members. ― It provides the STOA secretariat. 10/12/2015 Supporting informed policy making - A glance at the Directorate for Impact Assessment and European Added Value at the EP 14 STOA

EPRS | ― The newly created Global Trends Unit provides strategic advice in mid-and long-term policy foresight. ― It serves as Parliament‘s contact point in the inter-institutional think tank ESPAS (= European Strategy and Policy Analysis System) 10/12/2015 Supporting informed policy making - A glance at the Directorate for Impact Assessment and European Added Value at the EP 15 GLOBAL TRENDS UNIT

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